18 Tips to Soothe Baby
Your newborn spent months snuggled in the comfort of your womb. Help her adjust to life on the outside by appealing to her senses.
By Jana Banin from Parents Magazine
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Thayer Allyson Gowdy
Soothing Tricks
For the past few months, your little one was cushioned in the dark confines of your uterus, where she listened to a never-ending whooshing, thumping playlist and was rocked every time you stepped away from your desk to make a photocopy. So it should come as no great surprise that she still isn't entirely acclimated to the big, cold place that she was recently thrust into.
For now the best recipe for a peaceful baby is to do everything you can to remind her of her last pad: the womb. "Start by thinking of your baby's first three months of life as the fourth trimester," says Parents advisor Harvey Karp, MD, pediatrician and author of The Happiest Baby on the Block. Why? Mimicking what she heard, felt, smelled, tasted, and saw in utero can turn on her calming reflex and help her feel safe and secure -- so she'll cry less and sleep better.What do you think of this story? Give your opinion!
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Thayer Allyson Gowdy
Soothe with Touch
Your baby's crib feels like a warehouse compared with the cozy home she was recently evicted from. Because things were snug in the womb, she's accustomed to ever-present touch. "A baby's skin is constantly stimulated in the uterus," explains Dr. Karp. Not only was your little one wrapped up as securely as a crystal vase being shipped overseas, her ride was just as bumpy -- so she's used to constant motion, notes Harry Zehnwirth, MD, a pediatrician and creator of the Sounds for Silence Baby Settling Program. "The transition from the womb to the world is easier if the baby is reminded of that packaging," he says.
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Touch: Skin-on-Skin
One easy way to re-create the physical sensation she enjoyed in utero: Take off your shirt and hold her close. "Skin-to-skin contact is very comforting to babies," says Dr. Karp. If going topless makes you blush, encourage Daddy to take over this duty: It's a great way for him to bond with your little one.
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Touch: Play Masseuse
Research has shown that regular rubdowns help babies sleep better and cry less, so give your baby a gentle massage for about 10 minutes daily, suggests Elaine Fogel Schneider, PhD, author of Massaging Your Baby: The Joy of Touch Time. Dr. Schneider notes, "This is best done when your baby is quietly alert. Massaging a squirmy or an agitated baby may overstimulate her, making her even fussier."
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Touch: Binky Time
Sucking -- which many fetuses do in utero -- is also a calming sensation for newborns. The rhythmic motion of gumming a Binky can work wonders when your baby is inconsolable.
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Soothe with Smell
All infants have preferences for certain odors based on what they experienced in the womb. According to Dr. Karp, the amniotic fluid picks up the scents of the foods Mom is eating; researchers now know that a fetus is aware of such odors because a baby is able to recognize its mother's scent immediately after birth. "If you give a 1-day-old who's never been exposed to breast milk a breast pad with another mother's milk, the baby will turn to the one with his own mother's milk," he says. Moreover, research has shown that babies are comforted by familiar scents; in one study, breastfed babies who were exposed to pain through routine heel sticks were immediately soothed by just the scent of their mother's milk. That's good news for new moms: You can use your baby's fine-tuned sniffer to relax her.
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Smell: The Scent of Mom
Your smell is not only recognizable -- it's the most soothing of all, says Dr. Karp. Forgoing deodorant just to spread your scent might be extreme, but you can help calm your baby by making a mommy-scented lovey. Try tucking a blankie into your bra, then letting your little one cuddle with it. (Don't leave her alone with it in her crib until after 6 months, when the risk of SIDS diminishes.)
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Smell: Deodorize
On the other hand, strong scents that never made their way into your amniotic fluid -- especially those found in household, bath, and grooming products -- can be irritating to a newborn and cause fussiness. So unplug that air freshener and lay off the scented baby wash for a while. "You might think you're doing your baby a favor by using 'calming' products, but many infants may not like that strong smell," says Parents advisor Jennifer Shu, MD, a pediatrician and coauthor of Heading Home with Your Newborn. You should consider giving your perfume a rest as well, even if you wore it throughout your pregnancy.
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Soothe with Sound
If you've been tiptoeing around ever since leaving the hospital, stop. Silence won't help your baby relax because it's foreign to him. "The first sense an embryo develops is hearing, at around nine weeks," explains Dr. Zehnwirth. In the womb, your baby picked up the sound of blood running through your arteries, a rhythmic whoosh, which is similar to what his heartbeat sounded like in an ultrasound, explains Dr. Shu. Even with that racket, noises from outside -- a toilet flushing, your favorite radio show -- filtered in and became a part of the in-utero symphony. Luckily, you can re-create that easily.
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Sound: Make Some Noise
The most ancient method of producing that womblike sound: Say "shh" to your baby. It's important to be forceful, since "the noise a baby hears in the womb is louder than a vacuum cleaner," according to Dr. Karp. Try to match the volume of your little howler's wails. Don't have the lung capacity? Lull him with a white-noise machine or a CD.
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Sound: Talk to Her
All that office gossip you thought no one caught wind of -- turns out you had a secret eavesdropper. Your baby was able to hear people talking before he was born; your voice was clearest, so it's most familiar. Talking to him won't necessarily stop him once he's crying, says Dr. Karp, but it's a great way to keep him from fussing in the first place. If babbling makes you self-conscious, read aloud. "Newborns can recognize a story you've read over and over, so it's a good way of prolonging quiet alert time," he explains. Either way, keep the volume down: "Speaking softly and slowly is calming because babies have to strain to hear, which forces them to pay closer attention," says Dr. Shu.
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Sound: Play Music
The White Stripes song topping your iTunes most-played list might seem like a strange choice for a lullaby, but if you were addicted to it during pregnancy, your little one will remember it -- and likely find it calming, according to Dr. Shu. Same goes for TV-show themes, as well as any songs you might have sung to your baby while you were pregnant, she notes.
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Kaysh Shinn
Sound: White-Noise Machines
A pristine house might be low on your list of priorities these days, but the dishwasher, vacuum, and clothes dryer all make whooshing, low-frequency noises similar to those heard in the womb, says Dr. Karp. Since babies like motion and feeling snug, put her in a baby carrier and do your chores with her in tow.
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Thayer Allyson Gowdy
Soothe with Sight
Your infant may spend most of the time with his eyes shut, but his vision development started months ago, around 26 weeks' gestation, and Dr. Shu notes that newborns can immediately see close up. In fact, studies show that within days of birth, a baby prefers an image of Mom to that of a stranger. What your little guy sees (and when) can contribute to his state of calm.
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Sight: Adjust the Lights
You might assume that your infant requires total darkness to sleep because it was pitch-black in the womb -- but he actually experienced filtered light in utero. In fact, Dr. Karp says, "If you take a bright light and shine it on the wall of the uterus, the baby will turn away from it." That said, soft, subdued light can be calming to babies and help them drift off. "It allows them to orient," he explains. So, if you've outfitted your nursery with blackout shades, try plugging in a night-light.
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Sight: Show Your Face
While you're caught up in the frenzy of trying to help your frantic infant settle down, it's easy to forget one important tactic: looking at him. "Your face is comforting because it is associated with the smell and the voice that the baby knows from the womb," says Debby Takikawa, coauthor of CALMS: A Guide to Soothing Your Baby. It might seem hard to make eye contact when your little one is wailing, but take a deep breath and make a point to put your face close to his, gaze at him directly, and speak in a calm voice.
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Thayer Allyson Gowdy
Sight: Brighten Up
How does your baby not realize that nobody should be up (let alone crying) at 2 a.m.? You can hardly blame him -- in the womb, day and night were the same. Says Dr. Karp, "If you want to organize a child into a circadian rhythm, expose him to daylight." His solution for correcting your little night owl's nocturnal tendencies: Strap your infant into a stroller or a carrier and head out for regular daytime walks.
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Soothe with Taste
Before birth, your baby not only developed an affinity for certain smells, he also learned to like particular flavors. According to Dr. Shu, he was able to taste the foods you consumed via the amniotic fluid (a fetus swallows about a pint of the stuff each day!). Now that he's breastfeeding, his taste preferences can come into play as "flavors from things you're eating pass into the breast milk," says Takikawa.
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Taste: Play It Safe
Remember that second-trimester craving for blue cheese you refused to indulge because you were wary of unpasteurized dairy products? Don't be so quick to dig in now, either. Not only may unfamiliar foods be a taste turnoff for your little one -- they can be irritating to his stomach, explains Dr. Shu. "A lot of moms are careful about what they eat while they're pregnant but less careful when breastfeeding," she says. "Abruptly adding certain things back into your diet that you avoided during pregnancy can be upsetting to a baby."
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Taste: Eat Well
To give your breast milk a familiar taste, continue consuming the things you ate frequently during pregnancy (if you constantly craved Kung Pao chicken, your baby might be a fan too). Says Dr. Karp, "Some people will say not to eat foods like garlic while you're nursing, but many babies actually prefer it because it's what they're used to."
Originally published in the September 2009 issue of Parents magazine.What do you think of this story? Give your opinion!
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